A regional daily reporter was badly injured in a hit-and-run incident while cycling in the city.

Rachael Clegg, left, a news and features writer at The Star in Sheffield, was allegedly struck by a taxi which failed to stop while she was cycling on Pinstone Street in the city centre on Friday afternoon.

She was rushed to hospital by ambulance with a fractured jaw and wrist and has also had to undergo facial surgery.

Rachael, 32, is a keen cyclist in Sheffield and the incident comes after she wrote a feature earlier this month aimed at encouraging more people in the city to take up cycling.

The collision led to a number of roads being closed in the area and police have issued an appeal for information.

Rachael was taken to the Northern General Hospital for tests including a CT scan after suffering head injuries but the scan was clear.

Speaking from her hospital bed on Friday, Rachael told the paper: “All I remember is a jolt from behind and flying through the air.”

Her friend Helen Robinson, who rushed to the hospital after police contacted Rachael’s family in the north west about the collision, said she was lucky not to have been more seriously injured.

She said: “She has been really lucky – it could have been much worse.”

The paper reported that witnesses managed to take down the vehicle’s registration number, which had allowed the driver to be tracked down and spoken to initially by the police.

A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said: “Officers are appealing for information following the incident in Sheffield city centre, which led to a number of road closures in the area.

“A 32-year-old woman was cycling down Pinstone Street towards the junction of Cambridge Street in the direction of Furnival Gate when, it is alleged, another vehicle collided with the rear wheel of her black and white bicycle.”